Fluff n Stuff Anthology
by Kaze and Kiba
Summary: Title says it all. A long series of one shots, some related, some not. Ranging from childhood to adults. K-T. Many of them guaranteed to bring a smile. Written from prompts for 2012 Sasuke/Sakura month. Chapter one Lick
1. Chapter 1

A/N—Thanks, Sakura's Unicorn, for editing. You're super awesome!

And the rest of you…

Ne, it's been a while my friends.

I have the next chapter of Gravity almost ready to post but I wanted to put something up today since it's been so long. I've been forced to work like a dog this last six weeks and had to neglect you all, gomen nasai. I've missed you.

So here I have a ton of one-shots I wrote for Sasuke+Sakura month. And I will put them up, not in prompt order, but in order, uh, by age, I guess—starting from youngest. I had lots of fun writing them. I did one for every day of the month.

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Fluff and Stuff Anthology

Prompt # 4—Lick

Rated-K non-mas

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My Aniki is an Evil Genius

By Kaze and Kiba

Summary— Sugar and spice and everything nice…yeah, _right_.

A/N-one non-mass was fun. Why not try two? ~K&K

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"Sasuke-kun, where did you get that black eye?"

"A girl in my class. She said I gave her my cooties."

"And did you?" Itachi asked, curious.

Sasuke thought back to earlier that day.

_He was showing that doofus, Naruto, his new practice shuriken that his cousin had given him. _

"_They're plastic!"_

"_So? They're still sharp."_

"_Tch, I'll bet they don't even fly."_

"_Oh yeah? Watch this!" Sasuke threw the toy weapon and they both cringed when they heard a cry._

"_Oooo, Sensei's gonna kill you, teme. I didn't see nothin'." The blond-haired boy disappeared._

_Sasuke looked around the bush where he'd thrown his toy and found a pink-haired girl on the ground, crying. She looked up at him with huge, watery eyes and tear tracks down her dirt-smudged face. _

"_Am I bleeding?"_

"_Uh, not really. It's just a scratch."_

"_A scratch! Wah! It'll get infected and make a scar!" she wailed, "Ino-chan says if I get scars on my face then nobody'll think I'm pretty." _

"_So?" Sasuke frowned at her._

_Her lip quivered and she looked ready to burst into fresh hysterics. Sasuke just knew the teacher was gonna tell his parents and then he'd be in big trouble. They might even take his shuriken away. He had to think fast. _

"_My aniki told me how to keep scratches from getting infected."_

_The little girl sniffed. "Really…how?"_

_Sasuke bent down and took her little face in his hands. He brought his face up close to hers…_

"_Hey, what are you—"_

_And he licked her cheek._

"_There. Now you won't get a sc—"_

_BLAM!_

_She hit him—hard._

"_Ugh! You gave me COOTIES, Sasuke-kun!" The little girl jumped up and stomped away, leaving him stunned on the ground. _

Sasuke looked up soberly at his big brother, who was patiently waiting for an answer to his question.

'Did I give Sakura my cooties?' he thought.

"Um, I…I think so. Yeah." His face flushed guiltily.

Itachi's eyes widened in surprise. "Cooties…That _is_ serious.

Sasuke's dark eyes grew large with concern. "It _is_?"

"Aa. If you've given her cooties, you're going to have to do something about it." Itachi crossed his arms in consideration and conferred in silence with their cousin, who pursed his lips grimly and nodded.

"Really? Do _what_?"

"I'm afraid, otouto, that you will have to marry that girl."

"_Marry?!"_

"It's the only way to fix things," their cousin, Shisui, agreed.

"I can't _marry_ her! I'm only _five_!"

"How old is she?" his brother asked.

"I think she's six," Sasuke said nervously.

Itachi looked grave. Shisui crossed his arms and hung his head, shaking it slowly back and forth.

"Sasuke-kun, you want to become a shinobi, don't you?" Shisui asked.

"Aa!" He wanted to more than anything.

"To protect your village? Your family?"

"Aa."

"Then you must do it."

"But—"

His brother's stern stare silenced him. "Shinobi must make sacrifices to protect those we love," Itachi told him.

The little boy made a grossed out face. "I don't _love her_."

"You don't love her, but you gave her your _cooties_!?" Shisui gasped, scandalized.

"Um, yeah," Sasuke said slowly.

"The poor girl. What will her father do to our family?" Shisui sighed heavily, slumping his shoulders. "Wait a minute!" He straightened up quickly. "Maybe _you_ should marry her, Itachi. We can't let this kind of scandal get out in the village. It will ruin the family name. The elders will wring our necks."

Sasuke's hand crept up to his neck and he swallowed nervously.

Itachi shook his head, not making eye contact with his little brother. Sasuke panicked, his little lip pooching out with concern. His heart was thumping a million miles per hour in his chest. _What had he done?!_

He couldn't let his aniki take the fall for his blunder.

"I—I guess I do kinda like her."

"_Kind of?"_ Shisui asked loudly.

"She has pretty, green eyes. But her hair's _pink_." He made a sour face.

"Pink, eh?" Shisui grinned, placing his hands behind his head and leaning back against the wall dreamily. "Lucky you. That's the _best_ color for a girl."

"_It is_?"

"Of course," his cousin assured him. "That way you know she's a girl right away."

Itachi raised his eyebrow, as if his cousin had made a valid point—or said something completely ridiculous.

"Oh…that's true," Sasuke agreed, not wanting to look stupid in front of the older, wiser boys.

"Well, Sasuke. You're your own man, so you need to decide this by yourself. Just be sure not to give any more girls your cooties. You do _not_ want to have more than one wife." Shisui stretched his arms above his head, pushed off the wall and slapped him on the back. "Let us know how things turn out. We have to get back to work."

Sasuke nodded. "Arigato, aniki. Arigato, Shisui-nii."

"Anytime. That's what we're here for. You're pretty smart, Sasuke-kun, finding your own wife so young, before your parents pick one for you. You're gonna make a good shinobi, kid." Shisui messed up Sasuke's hair, which he usually hated, but let it pass just this once, because he wanted more than anything to be a good shinobi, like his aniki and cousin. He watched them walk away with admiration shining in his eyes.

He still had a problem though.

How did he ask a girl to _marry_ him?

"I'll ask kaa-san," he decided. "She'll know."

_~The End ~ _


	2. Chapter 2 Rebel

Thanks, Sakura's Unicorn, for editing. You're Super-Girl!

Prompt # 3—Rebel

Rated-K Non-mass

Rebel-to protest by defying a government or other form of authority.

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Ball & Chain

By Kaze and Kiba

Summary—Little boys, who want their toys, can be _devious_.

A/N-My first non-mas—Yoshi!~K&K

Hey, guys! I'm working on getting my next chapter of co9t together. Wish me luck. Until then, enjoy! I think I'll put up two of these little 'shorts' up today.

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_Tap, tap, tap. _

Sasuke's eyes snapped open and his head turned toward the window. On the other side of the tempered glass, the moon's light shone in a halo around someone's head. Sighing, he got up and opened the window.

"Get dressed, Sasuke-kun."

"_Huh_? Why?"

"We're running away. They can't make us do this."

"_Tch_." He was exhausted from the dobe keeping him up until three a.m. drinking and now he had to put up with _this_? "Get in here." He yanked her hand off the frame and pulled her into the room.

"I mean it, Sasuke-kun!" she insisted, letting him drag her into his room. She settled on his bed while he laid his head back on the pillow, watching her sleepily. "I can't do it! I don't want to do it! Not yet. I'm too young. I haven't got to see enough of the world or—"

"It's not a death sentence," he muttered.

"It might as well be."

"Thanks," he shot back, offended.

She set her forehead against his and gazed affectionately into the midnight eyes of her friend. "You know what I mean, Sasuke-kun."

He grunted, settling down, pulling her close and wrapping his blanket around them.

"Why do the Elders have to meddle in our lives?" She snuggled in close to him and he closed his tired eyes. "Why tie us down? Why can't they just let us be free to do what we want?"

"We'll ask them tomorrow."

"But tomorrow will be too late! Sasuke-kun! You're usually the first to protest when something crazy like this happens! What is _wrong_ with you?"

Sasuke sighed and dug his chin into her warm neck. "Sleep now. Ask questions later."

"But Sasuke-kun," she gasped. He was already sleeping again! She tried to get up but he'd clamped onto her like an anchor and refused to let go. She tried to come up with some kind of wild escape plan that sounded plausible, but his warmth was making her sleepy. Eventually, she relaxed and closed her eyes.

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"Good morning, lovebirds!"

Sakura bolted upright from the cocoon of Sasuke's warmth and had to squint when Mikoto tore open the curtains.

"Starting the honeymoon early, are we?" Sasuke's mother chuckled good-naturedly. Sakura turned bright red, emphatically shaking her head.

"No!" She pointed. "He…I…we…"

"I understand, dear," Mikoto said, snagging her hand and dragging her out of the bed. "Come along, now. Let's get you freshened up and into your dress. The wedding's in three hours. I can't wait!" She hugged the pink-haired girl who looked helplessly back to the bed where she saw the devious smirk on her fiancé's face.

"You—you did this _on purpose_," she stammered in astonishment.

His smirk widened into an evil, little grin as his mother hauled his reluctant bride-to-be out of his room. She'd forgive him later, he knew—after the wedding.

_~The End~_


	3. Chapter 3 Solace

Thanks, Sakura's Unicorn for editing! So glad to have you back here! And your wonderful stories!

Prompt 18—Ghost

Rated-K

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Solace

By Kaze and Kiba

Summary-You see right through me.

A/N- Ah, the angst...this one's more stuff, than fluff.

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In the moon's light, at first, she appeared to be wearing white, or the palest pink silk—the color of her hair.

A subtle, silent shift of his vision and his eyes blazed red.

'Lavender,' he thought, correcting himself as he watched her go through the familiar routine, '…her dress is lavender.'

The flickering yellow light from the lamp she lit turned her dress a washed-out gray. Dark circles under doleful, jade eyes, pallid skin—she looked like a ghost of her true self—exactly the way he felt.

He knew who'd come to honor his family's graves after the war—who'd cleaned off the overgrown weeds, righted the headstones after vandals had tipped them over, and who set fresh flowers, gave prayers, or offerings for the lost, murdered souls of the Uchiha to buy their passage across from the ferryman.

She worked diligently on them all, until the ebony marble shone in the soft light of the moon, but she spent the longest over one—her loving hand caressing the ice-cold stone while tears traveled down her cheeks and she grieved.

No one saw her grief. During the day, she smiled brightly and hid it from the world.

Every night she came here. For months she'd been coming—heat, cold, rain, snow.

It was a balm to his soul.

Maybe he was being selfish, but he didn't care.

She talked to him every day—earnestly told him all the things, good or bad, that she'd been through that day, never holding a single thing back. He sat with his back to her and drank in every syllable, every emotion, every tear, and every smile.

"Sasuke-kun," she said once, "you want to hear something funny? This is the one time of my day that I don't feel alone. I have lots of friends, but I don't show them my heart—only you. They wouldn't understand."

He understood.

Sometimes she was so exhausted, she dozed off while talking, and later woke up, cold and stiff from sleeping on the ground.

Today she wore lavender…and her tears were never-ending.

"Sasuke-kun," she sobbed. "My parents told me today that my year of grieving is over, and they want me to move on…to forget you." She ran shaking fingertips over his name carved in granite.

"I can't marry someone else. I _won't_. Tomorrow I'm retiring from my duties and I'm leaving Konoha." She laughed self-deprecatingly. "I know I'd just make whoever was with me miserable, anyhow. If it's not you…" she cried her heart out while he watched silently—the same as he'd always, always done.

Sometime later, she sniffed loudly and climbed to her feet. She laid a single, red rose over the top of the headstone on his empty grave. "Goodbye, Sasuke-kun. I wish I could take you with me."

'You will, Sakura,' he promised silently, burying his nose in the silken petals, feeling the bite of a thorn on his thumb. 'And maybe' he thought with the faintest flicker of hope, 'someday, I'll be more than just your ghost.'

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	4. Chapter 4 Steel

Sakura's Unicorn, you're the tops! Thanks for editing!

Prompt 12—Steel

Rated-T

Reluctant Hero

By Kaze and Kiba

Summary—The red string of fate cannot be cut so easily.

A/N-There are some people I just love to hate.

Halfdemonfan & LilithiaRW, I couldn't stand to leave you sad, so here's another chapter, just for you guys.

K&K

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The piercing ring of steel through the smoky air was when he first realized he'd left his own battle to come to her aid. He'd barely been conscious of her in the first place. He'd been so focused on his own fight.

"Sasuke-kun," Madara's deep, disappointed voice chastised him from over the top of her pink head, where Kusanagi met the kunai poised to stab her in the spine.

"Leave her out of it," he growled.

"I'm doing you a favor, you little fool. Bonds like this make you weak—just like the _rest_ of your family."

He knew that, in fact, he didn't even know why he'd stopped his ancient ancestor from murdering her, except that she wasn't fighting. She was healing someone.

The green glow of her healing chakra fluttered and died as she looked up at him with those too-trusting green eyes and tears streaming down her face.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun."

"Shut up, stupid _bitch_," Madara snarled and kicked her viciously in the back.

Sasuke literally saw red when the already exhausted girl screamed in pain as three ribs snapped and she slumped over the body of the woman she was desperately trying to save.

The havoc that came after was a blur as the boy who'd shown up to destroy a village became its savior by bringing down its greatest enemy ever. Using his own Sharingan, he wrenched control over the Kyuubi from Madara and returned it to his old teammate, who stood beside him until the last enemy lay face down in the mud.

Sasuke started as a roar went up in the silence. He was clapped on the back and lauded as a hero. Swept along the wave of the cheering crowd with Naruto, he lost sight of the girl who'd changed the tide without even knowing it.

A thousand _thank you's_ later, he sat alone on the dusty corner of a blown-up building, watching the weary people try to pick up the rubble their lives had become.

'What now?' he wondered as he watched the dusk deepen. With thoughts of vengeance no longer controlling him, what was there for him? He no longer knew what path he wanted to take. It was clear this village no longer saw him as their enemy—if they ever really did.

"Can I heal that for you?" a familiar voice asked. He turned to see her, clothes torn and bloody. Lines of weariness marked her young, beautiful face.

"It's fine." He lied about the open gash running from his elbow to shoulder. He wouldn't bleed to death but, truth be told, it was a nuisance.

"Please, Sasuke-kun. It's the least I can do. I owe you my life."

He sighed and nodded, silently thinking, 'I believe I owe you mine, too.'

The soft glow of her healing touch suffused them. He closed his eyes as her warmth encompassed his entire body, saturating him in comfort that he'd rarely felt since he was a child. When the light faded, he felt renewed, as if he could do it all again. She took a step back and stumbled with weariness. Sasuke caught her shoulders and set her down in his place.

"You should take it easy." Sasuke recognized that, even with her own injuries, she'd probably been pushing herself like this all day.

She shook her head. "There's more wounded. I've got to see to them." She didn't even realize she was leaning against him as she spoke.

"They'll still be there tomorrow."

Without looking at him, her small hand reached up and grasped his. "Will you?"

He was silent for a few moments as he thought about his future. Then he decided that for now, he only needed to live one day at a time.

"Aa."

She let out the pent-up breath she'd been holding in and squeezed his hand.

"I'm glad, Sasuke-kun."

_~The End~_


	5. Chapter 5 Harvest

Prompt # 5—Harvest

Rated-T for language.

Edited by the wonderful Sakura's Unicorn.

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Testing My Patience

By Kaze & Kiba

Summary—That sick fucker

A/N-I'm not obsessed…I'm dedicated. ~K&K

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The man lying on the table screamed in his death throes. He thrashed wildly, as if his very soul was being consumed along with his flesh while the latest lot of formulas failed spectacularly. Orochimaru picked up the scalpel and drew it across his throat to silence him.

"Pity. This crop looked promising." He slipped off his gloves and threw them on the body. "Kabuto, clean this trash up." He gestured to the trio of tables containing the collection of bodies in various levels of transmutation from the cursed seals.

"Hai, Orochimaru-sama."

Sasuke watched emotionlessly from the corner. These experiments went on endlessly—testing poisons, elixirs said to extend life, ancient spells and curses—anything with a whisper of promise to break death's hold, or produce greater power. The never-ending screams, groans, and snap of bones had no effect on him anymore. The only mercy these disgusting bastards showed was that they refrained from using women or children for their experiments.

"Sasuke-kun, bring in the next batch."

"_Tch."_ Sasuke pushed off the wall with a repressed curse. This was a complete waste of his time. The Snake Sanin had promised to train him to become stronger but, in reality, Orochimaru spent most of his time pouring over dusty old books and chopping up bodies, trying to solve the mystery of everlasting life.

Who the hell would want to live forever?

Life _sucked_.

At least he didn't have to talk to these poor losers who found themselves being used as lab rats. Kabuto put them into comas and wrapped them in special 'cocoons.' All Sasuke had to do was read the number on the bag, unzip the top and make sure the number written on the captive's forehead corresponded with the number on the tag, and check that they were still breathing. Sometimes they expired before they made it to the lab. Those lucky bastards ended up in the boilers with the failed 'harvest.'

He was on the last of three trips, when it happened.

He checked the tag and unzipped the bag.

"Holy fuck! _Sakura_!"

The unconscious girl lay still as stone and pale as the grave. He swiftly placed his hand over her mouth, under her nose, and let out a pent-up breath when he felt the warmth of her soft exhale against his skin.

'She's alive,' he thought, trying to remain calm. '_Now what?_'

First things first.

He closed the bag and carried it to his room then he doubled back, took another victim and brought it to the lab. Now he understood the haughty look of expectation Kabuto had been giving him the last few days. He was anticipating the chance to taunt Sasuke with his pink-haired trophy.

'That cocky fuck didn't know when to leave well enough alone,' Sasuke brooded darkly. He resumed his bored lean against the wall and stared expressionlessly, acting as if he knew nothing.

He had plans to make.

_~The End~_


	6. Chapter 6 Duped

Prompt 21—Duped

Rated-T

Edited by the wonderful Sakura's Unicorn.

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Fool Me Once

By Kaze and Kiba

Summary—Sometimes her job gave her the creeps.

A/N-Sometimes you just _know_.

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"We've been duped, Teme," Naruto growled as he entered the hotel room. "Where's Sakura?"

"She left a while ago."

"Damn it. You know that doctor guy she had that important business meeting with at hospital? Well, he's a total pervwad. I just heard that he molested some of his patients, but they couldn't prove it because their memories were fuzzy."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Sakura had mentioned something about him being a little touchy-feely, but she said it was nothing she couldn't handle. She was going over to his office to discuss a fantastic new procedure he'd discovered—something that was supposed to help save the lives of critically wounded ninja in the field by keeping them alive until they reached surgery.

"I'll go check on her," he told Naruto, one foot already out the door.

"Wait. I'll come with you."

"I'll take care of it myself." He shut the door in the blond's face with a _snap_.

The closer he got to the hospital, the darker his mood became. 'Stupid girl,' he thought. 'She's too naïve. Just 'cause he's some fancy doctor, it doesn't make him a good guy.' By the time he walked into the lobby, people were instinctively drawing away from Sasuke in fear. He walked up to the front desk and the receptionist nearly jumped out of her seat.

"C-c-can I h-help you, sir?"

"Dr. Shindale's office," Sasuke growled.

"Ah, y-yes, third floor, room three-two-six." She breathed a sigh of relief when he turned away, wondering if she should call ahead and tell the sensei of his visitor—she decided against it. Handsome as he was, she didn't want that scary man coming back to talk to her if the doctor wasn't there.

_326_

Sasuke knocked on the door.

"I'm busy with a patient. Go away." A male answered in a strangled voice.

Sasuke kicked in the door and found a drugged Sakura, holding the black and blue doctor off the floor by his collar.

"He said, _go away_," Sakura snarled without looking to see who had come in. "He's busy getting his ass _kicked_." She swayed as the drug he'd slipped in her coffee took a more powerful hold on her system.

"I can take it from here." Sasuke's eyes turned red and the doctor screamed before his jutsu took him down terrifying paths.

By the time he finished, the guy was a blubbering, bruised ball of scum lying on the floor. He knew from the genjutsu the dark-haired man had shown him that if he ever touched a woman again, Sasuke would come back and kill him. But he was almost grateful to the terrifying man because, before he came in, that med-nin he'd thought was so hot was about to remove his manhood.

Sasuke looked at Sakura and she was trying to use chakra to clear her system, but it was sputtering. She looked up at him, her head swiveling drunkenly on her neck.

"I coulda handled it, Sasuke-kun."

"_Tch_," he scoffed, sweeping her off her feet and transporting them back to his hotel room. He laid her on the bed and went to the bathroom to get a cold compress. By the time he got back she was out cold. With a sigh, he brushed her hair back and put the cloth on her brow.

"From now on, I'm taking care of you, Sakura."

_~The End~_


	7. Chapter 7 Ice

Prompt 25—Ice

Rated-K

A/N— Mmm, you might drool over this one.

Edited by the awesome Sakura's Unicorn.

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Thaw

By Kaze and Kiba

Summary—Teammates can be a pain…sometimes.

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Sasuke handed the moaning girl a bag of ice. Sakura planted it on her aching head.

"What the hell were you thinking, getting wasted the night before an important mission?"

"If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the problem, Sasuke-kun. Go away."

"_Tch_. Idiot."

"Thank you," she retorted smarmily. "Your opinion has been recorded for posterity. Now _go_ _away_."

The light flipped on and she screamed at the brightness that scorched her retinas.

"Oh, god, please _no_. Turn it _off_!"

She heard his heavy, put-upon sigh. It was nearly loud enough to make her poor ears bleed.

"Get up."

"No. My doctor suggests sleeping off a hangover this bad—not getting up and running for miles in the hot sun."

"What doctor?"

"Me," she grunted.

He scoffed and shut off the light. Sakura opened her eyes and sighed.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kuuu—"

When he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder she kicked and shouted—but what worried him most…was when she stopped.

"Sasuke," she whispered, sounding ill. "I think I'm going to—"

Sasuke had never moved so fast outside of combat. He had Sakura bent over the john before she finished her sentence. When she was done reliving her previous night's dinner and drinks he tossed her in the shower and turned on the cold water.

"Sasuke!" She shrieked when the ice water soaked her t-shirt and shorts.

"I'm helping you wake up." Sasuke chuckled darkly.

"Kawarimi no Jutsu!"

"Shit!" Sasuke found himself standing under the icy-cold spray. When he tore back the shower curtain Sakura was shivering in the middle of her bathroom, clumsily trying to strip her sopping-wet clothes off.

"You asked for it, Sasuke." she told him angrily through chattering teeth, while he stepped out of the tub. "You should have let me sleep."

"We were supposed to leave two hours ago."

"So?" the half-soaked girl grumbled, "I learned to procrastinate from the master." Sakura looked up and saw Sasuke pull his wet shirt over his head and suddenly she was _very_ aware that they were undressing in front of each other. Still in her underwear, she jumped back in the tub and pulled the curtain shut.

"Get out of my bathroom, Sasuke!" She nearly screamed again—the water was still like ice. She leaned over and turned on the hot water, sighing in relief when the water heated, easing her chills. Placing her hands on either side of her head, she sent a slow, steady stream of healing chakra. She moaned in pleasure as the pounding ache slowly eased.

"What are you doing in there?"

"What?!" She opened her tired eyes. "_Why_ are you still in here?! Get _out_!"

"Make me."

Sakura ripped the curtain back just enough to stick her head out to chastise her stoic teammate but the words died on her lips. Sasuke stood before her in nothing but a towel. Her eyes were immediately drawn down, to the fine line of hair traveling down from his naval to his…oh god! _Where was she looking_!

She forced her eyes back to his face only to find that supercilious little smirk sitting on his lips.

'He knows I was checking him out!'

"Sasuke-kun!"

'Now what?' she thought, her eyes darting anywhere but at him. "Ah, will you hand me a towel before you leave?"

His hand went to the towel around his waist and she panicked.

"No! Not your towel! A clean one from the cupboard."

His eyes flicked to her and he scoffed lightly. Folding his arms against his buff chest and leaning back on the wall.

"Get it yourself."

"Sasuke!"

"That water's gonna get cold again soon," he murmured.

It already was, but she wasn't about to tell him that. She turned off the luke-warm water and stood shivering, waiting for him to leave. When he didn't, she was just about to use a jutsu to transport herself to the bedroom when his hand, holding a towel, pushed through the curtain. With a murmured thanks, she took the towel and wrapped it around herself.

Sakura opened the curtain and he was still there. He held out his wet clothes to her.

"We'll leave after you dry my clothes."

She almost objected but when he stood up straight, towering over her, his bare, muscled chest at eye level, her mouth went dry and she nodded.

She was in the laundry room, putting his clothes in the dryer when she heard a knock on the door. She turned on the dryer and went for the front door but Sasuke beat her too it.

"Hey, Forehead, I just heard—holy shit!" Ino looked up from a mostly naked Sasuke to see her coming up behind him—both looking fresh from the shower.

Sakura saw her huge, baby blues and knew exactly what was going on in that perverted brain of hers. "It's not what you think, Pig."

"Yeah, _right_, Forehead." She grinned saucily. "You should have told me you melted the ice prince."

"I didn't! Tell her Sasuke."

"Sakura and I just got out of the shower. Can we help you?"

Ino giggled. "Oh, no. You've helped me enough already. Congratulations, Forehead. Ya know, I just _can't_ keep this to myself. See ya."

Sasuke caught Sakura as she tried to follow the gossip going down the front walk.

"Let go. She'll tell everyone that we—"

"Let her."

She looked up into his midnight eyes to see something unsettling. Sasuke was looking at her like he was starving—and she was dinner.

His head tilted a little. "Ice prince?"

Her eyes grew wide. "Ah, that's just a silly nickname name we—I mean, _she_ came up with!"

His eyes softened and he stepped even closer, pressing her back against the wall.

"Shall we see if you can melt me, _Sakura_?"

~The End~


	8. Chapter 8 Hostage

Prompt#2—Hostage

Rated T-language

A/N—Enjoy!~K&K The next chapter of Cat-o-Nine Tails is almost ready. I just sent it to be edited!

Edited by the wonderful Sakura's Unicorn.

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Sorry I'm Late

By Kaze and Kiba

Summary—Dummies training dummies…

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"Back off, dobe. I got this."

"Screw you, teme! Quit trying to show off all the time. I'm just as strong as y—"

_Rrrrriiiiippp!_

"_Shit!_ The old man's gonna bust a nut!"

A soft, but dangerous voice spoke from directly behind them, making both teenage boys jump. "Oh, you're _right_ about that."

"_Ahaha_, Sensei." Naruto tried to hide the destroyed dummy behind his back, and when he couldn't, he pointed out its flaws. "You can clearly see the stitching here was poorly executed—"

"Save it, you idiot," Sasuke growled, tossing the 'hostage' training dummy's arm on the ground.

"But—"

"He's right, Naruto-kun. I've had it with the excuses you two give me as to why you can't save a hostage together. You've torn apart two dozen this week alone!" He glared. "Iruka has started to dock _my_ pay for all the damages."

"It's not my fault, Sensei! Teme here doesn't work well with others."

"Imbecile."

"Glory hog!"

"Shut it!" Kakashi shoved the seventeen-year-olds apart before they came to blows again. "You have a new training exercise."

"But I thought you said we couldn't sign up for the next Chunin Exam until we worked on our hostage crisis skills?"

"That's right. You two egotists have been so self-involved you failed to notice that part of your team has gone missing."

"Sai said he had a mission this morning," Sasuke informed him.

"You mean Sakura?" Naruto asked. "I thought since she didn't show up this morning that she had to work in the hospital today."

"That just goes to show your poor teamwork skills." Kakashi sniffed. "Now go find Sakura and bring her here, while I explain to Iruka how you ruined _another_ training tool." Kakashi picked up the dummy and _poofed_ out of sight.

Sasuke sighed. "Let's go already. We're wasting training time."

"Shove it, teme. I'm gonna get to Sakura's house first." Naruto took off at a dead run.

"The hell." Sasuke glared for only a moment before he too bolted. He'd be damned if he was gonna let that loser beat him.

The race ended in a tie—both young men standing at the stoop in front of Sakura's door—the door lying half off its hinges.

Sasuke's Sharingan instantly engaged.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto yelled.

They fought to enter the house first. The kitchen and living room showed no signs of a struggle but when they reached the bedroom it was clear that blood had been drawn. There were drops of blood, both on the floor and the sheets, which had been torn off the bed as if Sakura had tried to hang on when she'd been dragged out of it. On her nightstand, her alarm lay on its side, still going off.

There was broken glass on the floor near the shattered picture frame. The picture of team Seven had been torn in two—right through Sakura.

Sasuke bent to pick up a rag off the floor. As he brought it to his nose he smelled the knock-out liquid it was doused in. He cursed. He checked Sakura's nightstand, but all that was there was her alarm clock. He pushed the button on it.

"What're you doing, teme? We gotta hurry and find Sakura before someone takes her out of the village."

"They probably already have."

"What?"

"Sakura always gets up at the same time. She would have turned off the alarm, but she didn't. She was taken more than three hours ago."

"Sai, when I get out of here, I'm going to _kill_ you!" Sakura grumbled under her breath.

"You know, Ugly, you should sleep in more than just your panties. You gave Kakashi a nosebleed when we captured you."

"You jerk! How _dare_ you idiots break into my house?!"

"Calm down. I gave you my shirt, didn't I?" Sai stared emotionlessly at the girl, strung up in one of his ink traps, wearing only her blue and white stripped underwear and his black half-shirt. "You should be grateful. It's all stretched out now. You've ruined it."

"Grateful!" she hissed. "Why, I'm going to—"

Sai tied a strip of cloth around her mouth. "Hostages should be seen and not heard."

She screamed at him through the cloth and he smiled at her.

"Is it my fault your teammates are too unintelligent to work together? All they want to do is fight. Kakashi thought they needed a real hostage to learn how to work together." He patted her cheek smartly when she glared at him. "I hope you don't end up torn to shreds like all those other dummies they tried to save this week."

'Did he just call me a _dummy?_!' Sakura's face burned with her anger. 'And where the hell are Naruto and Sasuke? These ink ropes are cutting off my circulation!' The black ops expert had tied her ankles, knees, arms, and chest with chakra binding ink and left her hanging upside down from the ceiling of the cave for two hours.

'They should've noticed I went missing already…shouldn't they?'

"Hurry up, teme. We don't know what might have happened to Sakura-chan!"

"My summons can't go any faster. Why don't you go back and get one of Kakashi's hounds to sniff her trail?

"I'm not going back now. Who ever heard of a trail-sniffing snake?"

"Snakes have very sensitive noses. They can smell scents on the air hundreds of yards away."

"Yeah, but they slither so slowly. Can't you get one of those blue racers? I hear they're quick."

"Yeah, because frogs are _so_ much faster."

"Teme! They're toads, toads! And toads _are_ faster than snakes."

"That's why snakes _eat_ them,"

"Hey! That's mean! And another thing…how come you know that Sakura-chan always wakes up at the same time every day?"

Sasuke didn't want to answer his question so he continued his insults instead.

"Frogs can't track by scent, either.

"Teme! I—" Sasuke came to a standstill and held up his hand to silence him.

"I think we're close."

"Sai! Enough is enough! Let me down. I have to go to the bathroom."

"Then go."

Sakura gasped in indignation. "I'm going to _castrate_ you."

"You can't blame me. Blame your lame heroes. They're the ones who've left you hanging all day. If this was a real mission, you'd probably be molested or dead by now."

"At least give me something to eat. Sai! Are you drawing _nude_ pictures of me?"

"If I don't record what I saw earlier I might forget your dimensions."

"You pervert! I'm going to k—mmph!"

"I told you to be quiet or I'd gag you again. Kakashi told me to treat you like a real hostage. Don't look so sad, hag. I'm sure your team will come to your rescue—eventually. I'm going to take a leak."

Naruto and Sasuke exchanged a glance. Sasuke pointed to himself and the cave and then to Naruto and the way Sai had gone off into the woods. His slid his finger across his neck and smirked darkly.

Naruto shared his dark smirk and pulled a kunai from his pouch.

"Sorry, I'm late."

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura cried when he removed the gag and kissed her.

"Where were you? Why didn't you come?" He cut her down and caught her as she fell—holding her close because her limbs were stiff and sore from being stuck in the same position. He sat with her in his lap and cut the ties binding her.

"I thought you were sleeping in because you were tired. We _were_ up all night."

Sakura blushed wildly. Sasuke pulled off his haori, wrapped it around her, and picked her up.

Sai came back around the side of the cave to find a small fire burning inside, with his sketchbook used as the fuel. He stomped out the flames before he realized that he was being watched by a hundred pairs of eyes.

"Took you long enough, Dickless."

~The End~


	9. Chapter 9 Armor

Prompt 14—Armor

Rated-K

I'll put a few more up soon, guys. Thanks, Sakura's Unicorn, for editing!

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Happenstance

By Kaze and Kiba

Summary—She wanted to be numb.

A/N-Alcohol is never the answer. ~K&K

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She took another swig off from the sake bottle's rim as the people in the bar trebled before her eyes. She didn't know if it was from too much booze or these god damn tears that kept threatening, but she shut out the feelings, and locked up the last vestiges of her heart in an armor that no arrow could pierce.

"Ojousan, don't you think you've had enough?" the bartender asked kindly.

She sighed. "Yeah, I've had enough, all right. Give me two more bottles for the road and the bill for my room."

She was leaving this town.

Sakura was on a mission in this little known village, picking up some special herbs for Tsunade and delivering some important meds as well, when she ran into _him_.

She scoffed. 'Well, I ran into his girlfriend, anyway.'

"_Someone, please, help me!" the redhead came screaming into the little clinic where Sakura was helping with a few immunizations before she went home. The woman grabbed onto her arm. _

"_He's really going to die this time! You've got to heal him!" She clawed frantically at her arm until Sakura slapped her._

"_Calm down and bring me to him."_

_Hate filled eyes glared at her but she turned and led Sakura to a hotel where the man was dying. _

_He was unconscious. Bleeding with fresh wounds and he had old, grossly infected, wounds besides. Sakura cursed._

"_Why didn't you get him help before?" Her hands began to glow as she examined his body thoroughly. _

"_I didn't need to. I healed him myself."_

"_Che," Sakura scoffed. "You mean you signed his death warrant yourself. He's going into sepsis shock."_

"_Is that bad?" asked the tall, orange-haired man, who hovered anxiously over the other side of the bed. _

"_He'll probably die soon." She shook her head knowingly._

"_Can you help him?" _

"_Pick him up and follow me."_

"_No!" The girl blocked them. "You can't bring him to the hospital. He doesn't want to go there."_

_Sakura grabbed her shirt. "Listen up—'cause I'm only going to tell you this once. You either give him to me, or you call the undertaker to fit him for his coffin, because he's going to need it tomorrow." She shoved the woman away in disgust._

_Sakura didn't wait for an answer. Using her chakra strength she picked the man up and transferred both him and herself to the hospital with a jutsu. The flurry of chaos that followed was harrowing—both because he was so close to death and because he was the one man she never, ever wanted to see die. _

_If she couldn't save him, it would kill her._

Sakura closed her eyes and steadied her constitution.

'At least I could help him one, last time,' she thought, throwing her pack over her shoulder. She snagged the necks of her bottles in one hand, laid enough coins on the bar to cover her tab, and left.

"Sensei," a soft voice called as she exited the establishment. She stopped and closed her eyes, wishing the man would just let her leave without thanking her. She didn't want to hear another damn, _thank you_ as long as she lived.

"He's awake."

She felt the first chink in the armor around her heart. She wanted to run to him, throw her arms around him, and tell him how happy she was that he was ok.

But she wasn't twelve anymore.

She nodded and stepped away from the orange-haired man, who still had the eyes of an innocent boy. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder.

"He…he wants to see you."

A hammer blow this time—it took all her strength to hold her armor in place when her heart slammed against it, trying to break free.

"Gomen. I have to leave."

"Oh, okay. I'll tell him."

"I wish you wouldn't," she whispered.

Sakura ran.

She ran into the forest and jumped onto the first branch. Even drunk as she was, she navigated her way quickly through the dense brush and foliage, until she was miles and miles from the place where she'd closed her heart off for the last time.

He was alive…and she was done.

When the pain tried to burn through the haze of booze, she stepped too heavily on a branch and with a _crack_ it sent her tumbling toward the ground. With a dark curse, she landed hard on her ankle and twisted it.

She sat in the darkness, breathing hard, fruitlessly trying her best to keep the sobs from coming. Finally, she gave up and screamed until she was out of breath. Then she flopped back and stared at the stars that winked at her through the leafy canopy.

Feeling numb—that's what she wanted. She opened the first bottle, drank it straight down and opened the second—not caring anymore if she poisoned her body and died. Her eyes started to feel heavy and her limbs grew cold.

Cold—she liked this feeling.

"Just stay cold and everything will become numb." She closed her eyes.

'Warmth?' Sakura fought through the fog in her mind that trapped her consciousness. 'Why is it warm? I want _cold_. I want to be numb.' She struggled ineffectually to escape the warmth.

"Your skin's like ice." The deep voice she knew so well spoke in her ear, while arms stayed wrapped around her, sharing their heat. "Be still, Sakura."

"No," she mumbled, trying to wake up. "…anyone but you."

"Shhh." He soothed her and she was falling—back into her dreams—back into her love.

"It doesn't work for you," she cried softly, "It can't be you, Sasuke-kun."

"What doesn't work?"

"My armor," she sighed, slowly slipping back into slumber in the cradle of his arms.

_~The End~_


	10. Chapter 10 Hallucinate

Prompt 13—Hallucinate

Rated K+ Edited by Sakura's Unicorn. Thanks, dear!

Hey, guys! This will make you all smile! Have a nice day. I'm working hard on the next chapter of Finders Keepers.

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Sasuke Loves Tomatoes

by Kaze and Kiba

Summary—Sasuke LOVES tomatoes.

A/N-Yeah, I said it twice.

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Something about the soup tasted a little funny.

"Naruto, where did you get these mushrooms?"

"Up on the other side of the hill." He put his bowl down—he was already on his second helping. "I think I still have one in my pocket."

Sakura put down her half empty bowl and took the fungus from him.

"These are orange with white spots"

"So?"

"I told you to pick the _white_ mushroom with the _orange_ spots."

"There's a difference?"

"Of course there's a _difference_, you idiot! You took survival class with the rest of us. These could have been poisonous!"

"They're not, are they?"

"Not _poisonous_, no, but I think they are, ah, hajulinigenic—_shit_!" she shook her head, trying to clear it.

"What?"

"Halu—haju—ha-lugin—." Sakura's tongue felt tied.

"Hallucinogenic," Sasuke corrected.

"Thank you, Sasuke-kun. They're already taking affect…I think." She tried sending chakra to her brain to override the effect but her chakra was already fluctuating too wildly to be much help. Suddenly colors seemed to be brighter and her thoughts were becoming muddled. She really had to concentrate to get out her next words. "Sasuke, please set up a boundary around the camp. If we are incapacitated by these, we will be sitting ducks if an enemy sneaks up on us."

"Aa." He hurried because he was starting to feel a little funny himself.

Sasuke came back to the camp to find Naruto on all fours hopping around, sticking out his tongue, trying to catch flies. He heard a giggle from behind him. He turned, only to see the most wondrous site…

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"Sasuke! I said forget about it!"

"I will take responsibility," he said seriously.

"No! My god, it's _not_ your fault. It's mine. I should have checked all the ingredients before I let Naruto make dinner. Now just forget—"

"I _can't_ forget about it Sakura." He stood in front of her blocking her path back to camp. She turned bright red, again.

'Red as a tomato,' he thought. 'Just like last night.' She may not have remembered all the details but, because of his Sharingan activating, _he_ did—crystal clear. When he turned to see her laughing at Naruto's frog-like antics she'd been blushing red—reminding him instantly of his favorite fruit and he'd _instantly_ molested her. The effect of those mushrooms had done more than make him hallucinate; he'd lost practically _all_ his inhibitions.

"Please stop talking about this—it's nothing."

His hand went to the zipper of her shirt, swiftly pulled it down and opened the material.

"Sasuke!"

"This is not _nothing_, Sakura." Seeing all the bruises, bite marks and hickeys covering her front before she quickly turned away and covered herself back up. Bindings covered her breasts but he _knew_ they were ravaged, too, because _he'd_ done it. They hadn't gone all the way, but he knew he had her shirt off, at the very least.

"If you do that again, I'm going to punch you through a tree!" she snapped, pulling the zipper closed.

"You should have."

"My chakra wasn't working and…" she mumbled something.

"And _what_?" he grabbed her arm, stopping her.

"I said…it felt good," she said quietly before she brushed him off and marched back to camp, trying to get her pack on so they could go. She was just about to kick Naruto awake when Sasuke whispered in her ear.

"Tasted good, too." His low growl gave her shivers—the hair on the back of her neck stood up.

There went that blush again. She was so red, Sasuke licked his lips.

'I will be taking responsibility, Sakura,' he promised silently, watching her run out of camp in front of him. He kicked the snoring blond awake and followed her.

~The End~


	11. Chapter 11 Dare

Note-shochu is a grain alcohol made from barley and potatoes.

Prompt 8—Dare

Rated-T

Can You Handle the Truth?

By Kaze & Kiba

Summary-Boredom breeds brainlessness.

A/N-I do not condone underage drinking—unless you are an awesome, ass-kicking ninja. ~K&K

Three days with absolutely nothing to do.

_Plink_

_Plink_

_Plink_

_Plink_

Sakura lay on her back with her head upside down, hanging off the edge of the hotel bed. She watched the rainwater drip from the ceiling where it was leaking into the bucket on the floor.

_Plink_

_Plink_

There was a storm raging outside—a huge storm. Hurricane force winds had ground their mission to a complete halt. Now they were stuck waiting out the tropical storm in a teeny, tiny space.

In fact, they were extremely lucky that they had a room to share between just the three of them. Every inn in the small coastal village was booked to the rafters with travelers trying to find shelter from the monstrous storm. Most of the other guests were six to a room, but the room they were allotted was more the size of a storage closet than anything else. One single-sized bed and one chair fit in the small space. The bathroom was barely big enough to turn around in. And she had to share it with a pair of men who argued over practically anything and everything, for no other reason than to pass the time.

Being with them every moment of the day was wearing her nerves thin. If it wasn't the bragging over who was more powerful, or who'd completed more missions, it was Naruto's weird ideas—like walking on the ceiling to strengthen his chakra or using up all the cotton balls in her med kit to play a game of baskets. She'd stopped the dart game using senbon before it even started—they had to pay for any damages they made to the room and this mission's stipend was already running short because of the delay.

Sakura sighed. At least for the moment there was some quiet. It was Naruto's turn to go out into the one-hundred mile-per-hour winds and find them food. Sasuke sat in the chair, asleep, or just not talking, while she lay wondering if this stupid storm was ever going to tire itself out, and if not, how long it would be before they were all at each other's throats.

It was ungodly hot and humid in this place, and with the room's only window boarded over for safety, the teammates had resorted to either wearing swimwear—Sakura wore her bikini and Sasuke his trunks—or be like Naruto, who ran around the room in his skivvies. His joke about them all going butt-naked to beat the heat had met with a strong glare from Sasuke and a fist to the side of his face from Sakura.

Sakura was just dozing off herself when her stoic teammate spoke to her, something he rarely did unless she said something to him first.

"He's been gone almost two hours. Think he's in jail?" He'd been watching her fall asleep and for some reason decided to prevent it.

"_Che_," she scoffed, stretching her arms languidly to the floor and flipping her legs up over her head to stand up off from the bed. "If he is, then he can stay there until this storm blows through." She stood on her toes to elongate her stiff muscles and he watched her lithe, rounded form twist and bend in front of him in a rather pleasing manner.

'Finally, something interesting,' he thought, sightseeing.

All too soon, in his opinion anyway, Naruto came barging back into the room with a burst of wind and rain.

"Did you miss me, guys?"

"No," they answered, straight-faced, in unison.

"Ah, come on," he teased. "I gave you two plenty of time to make-out and everything. You should be thanking me."

"Dobe."

"Naruto!"

"All right, all right. Look here what I got us for dinner."

"It better not be—"

"Ramen! I found this little place just outside the village and he made a fresh batch just for us."

"Naruto! I wanted _real_ food."

"This is real food, Sakura-chan. The best! And look what else I got!"

He pulled out a twelve pack of shochu.

"If you get drunk and puke in here, I'll kill you," Sakura grumbled. With two sweaty men confined in this tiny room, it smelled enough already.

"I won't get drunk. We can play a little drinking game to pass the time. The guy who sold me this said the storm should be over in two or three days."

"Days? Damn it, give me that bottle."

"Remember Sakura-chan, this stuff's pretty potent. It has two and a half times the alcohol content of…" He watched with his mouth hanging open as she drank down half a bottle in one long swig. Sasuke grabbed it from her and drank the rest.

"I learned how to drink from Tsunade, Naruto. I'm no lightweight, like you."

Four bottles later Sakura was giggling at Naruto's heretofore annoying antics. Sasuke was still sitting in his chair but now the permanent frown was gone, and he was feeling no pain. Naruto had a huge grin on his face—same as always.

"Hey! Let's play truth or dare."

"That's not fair, Naruto!"

"What? It's _true_."

"I meant, tell the truth about _who_ you like, not what food you like. For gosh sake, I already _know_ that. _Everyone_ does."

"It counts. My turn—truth or dare, Sakura?"

"You cheater," she grumbled. "Truth."

"What is the name of the boy that you love?"

"You little—"

"See? That's how _you_ should've asked. Come on now, Sakura-chan! Tell us the _truth_." He turned and gave Sasuke a wink that the dark-haired boy ignored.

"Forget it." Sakura threw a pillow at his head. "I pick dare!"

Naruto ducked and the pillow hit Sasuke. "Hey, you can't back out, that's cheating!"

"Same as you."

"Well then, I'm gonna make it a _horrible_ dare." Naruto grinned evilly.

"Try your best, ramenface." Sakura flicked him in the forehead hard enough to make him wince and rub the lump already forming there. "I'm not afraid of your _stupid_ dare."

"Really? All right." He put his chin in his palm and concentrated.

"Don't think too hard, Dobe. Your head might explode."

Sakura laughed.

"All right, Sakura-chan. I _dare_ you to run around outside the entire inn, _topless_!"

"Pervert!"

"Dobe," Sasuke growled.

"That's ok, Sakura-chan." Naruto patted her shoulder in consolation. "I know you're chicken, baby-chan."

"I'm not chicken!"

"Backing out of a truth _and_ a dare?"

"Who said I'm backing out?"

"_Tch_, there's no way you—_whoa_." Her bikini top hit his face and she was heading for the door, but Sasuke stopped her by putting his arms around her.

"Sasuke-kun, let go!'

Sasuke swung her away from the door without letting go. Naruto was standing in front of her now, frozen, his blue eyes glued to Sasuke's hands, which were holding her boobs.

"Holy _shit_," a trickle of blood ran from his nose.

"Pervert!" Sakura screamed, closing her eyes. She leaned back into Sasuke and, using him for leverage, aimed a kick directly at Naruto's face. The blond hit the wall with a groan.

"You owe me one, teme."

Sasuke dragged his struggling teammate into the bathroom and shut the door to hide her from Naruto's perverted eyes.

"Let me go, Sasuke-kun."

"Open your eyes, Sakura."

She opened them slowly and directly in front of her was the mirror. She gasped at what she saw—Sasuke standing behind her—his hands covering her breasts. She grabbed the hand towel off the rack and covered both herself and his hands.

"Sasuke, let go now."

"Truth."

"_What_?"

"Truth…who do you like?"

She blushed even harder. "Sasuke-kun! What the hell—"

"Tell me."

If he didn't move his hands soon Sakura knew that _she_ was going to explode. "If I tell you, will you let go?"

"Aa."

"You," she whispered, looking at the wall to avoid his eyes. "I still like you."

His hands slid down to her waist and his chin rested on her shoulder, his mouth so close to her ear that she felt Sasuke's warm breath when he spoke.

"Dare."

"_Dare?"_

"I dare you to kiss me, Sakura."

_~The End~_

Happy Holidays, everyone!

K&K


	12. Chapter 12 Younger-kun

Prompt 17—Younger

Rated-K

Who's in Charge?

By Kaze and Kiba

Summary—Sasuke's on a mission.

A/N-Ninja are sneaky by nature. ~K&K

"You're only captain for this mission because you're _older_ than me, Sakura."

"My skills are just as good as yours."

"_Tch_." He scoffed. "Keep telling yourself that."

"Aww, Sasuke-kun, don't be that way." She squeezed his arm affectionately.

"Hn."

"Suit yourself." Sakura shrugged. "I have to sign off on a few things at the hospital. Naruto said he wants to see you in his office. Meet me at the gate in an hour."

"Yo, Teme."

"Dobe."

"That's Hokage-sama to you." Naruto pointed to his tri-cornered hat, lying on his desk.

"You'll have my respect when you start giving _me_ respect."

"Of course I respect you."

Sasuke frowned. "You let Sakura take the lead—again."

"She has a higher rank. Plus she's older, _baby_-chan."

"It's more dangerous for her, too," Sasuke scowled.

"All right—I get what you're saying, but if I make you captain, Sakura's gonna think I'm playing favorites. Then she'll be mad at you _and_ me."

"I don't care. She'll get over it."

"Why don't you just knock her up? Then she won't be able to go out on any missions and she'll have to stay here, safe in the village."

"If she heard you say that she'd knock your head off."

"How about if I make it your _official_ mission, eh?" Naruto picked up his Hokage hat and plopped it on his head. "Uchiha Sasuke, I hereby order you to get busy and revive your clan."

Sasuke scoffed.

"S-class mission." He grinned and nudged his best friend. "The S is for _sex_."

"You are an imbecile."

"Hokage-sama." Naruto slapped him on the back. "Now get out there and make some babies."

Sasuke was waiting at the gates when his pink-haired captain finally showed up.

"You're late."

"Sorry, there was this little lost puppy and—"

"Save it," he growled. That was one habit she picked up from their former sensei that he loathed.

She laughed. "Sorry, Sasuke-kun." Sakura kissed his cheek.

"Hn."

"Are you ready to go?" she asked, belting on her med pack.

"I've been waiting for you, _captain_."

"Are you still mad about that? Listen, why don't you take on a few extra missions? Then, Naruto's bound to make you a captain, too."

"Well," he said, considering, as he looked into her amazing green eyes, "the dobe _did_ give me an undercover, S-class mission to work on."

"That's wonderful! Just promise me that you won't take any unnecessary risks with your life. I want you to be successful, too."

"Oh, I will be,'' he assured her with a devilish smirk.

_~The End~_


	13. Chapter 13 Journey

Prompt 23—Journey

Rated T

Security Blanket

By Kaze and Kiba

Summary—A journey under the earth leads to a voyage of self-discovery.

A/N—Giddy-up!

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"Tell me again, why we _have_ to ride horses?" Sakura asked uncomfortably. So far, she wasn't really enjoying this trip down into the mines of Depton—the place where a supposedly secret sect of mystical shaman were planning to take over the world. They were sent to figure out just how big a threat these guys were.

"It's not so bad, Sakura-chan. Tell her, Teme."

"Quit complaining."

Sakura's spine stiffened in indignation, and her saddle sores protested loudly. With a _squeak_ she slouched back in her saddle and sulked. She was glad she didn't have to live in a place like this—it was dark and eerie. The only light source came from the veins of ore in the rock that glowed eerily in the dark.

"The animals are for safety, Sakura-chan. They can sense if toxic gasses are being released in the tunnels. It happens from time to time, when the earth shifts. For some unknown reason, the animals sense the fumes first and won't pass into them. Isn't that cool?"

Sakura sighed and rubbed her bottom when the boys turned back around. "Yeah, cool," she murmured, "but I don't know why we have to _ride_ them," she mumbled.

They were already miles under the earth before they stopped for the night. 'Ugh,' she thought, shifting her stinging ass on the hard leather. 'I am so _not_ a horsy girl. Just how far underground are these crazy shamans anyhow?' She eased herself out of the saddle.

"Don't forget to tie up your horse," Sasuke reminded her before walking away.

"Yeah, yeah." she looked around the huge tunnel. There were no trees to tie horses to, so she strung the lead through a kunai and jammed it into a crack in the rock like the boys had done. Then, she gave the horse its food bag before she wandered down a ways, to where Sasuke was using a fire jutsu to light one of the logs they'd packed with them. Sitting down with only a slight wince, she dug through her pack and handed out protein bars for dinner.

"Aww, man. Isn't this stuff what _horses_ eat?" Naruto wrinkled his nose. "Don't you have any ramen?"

"No. We don't have anything to cook ramen with, Naruto."

"I like it dry, too. It's crunchy." Naruto pulled a plastic-wrapped package out of his pack and Sasuke made a face, stuffed the rest of his protein bar into his mouth, and got his blanket to go to sleep.

"Sakura?" he called back down the tunnel and she followed his voice in the dim light. "Where's your horse?" he asked when she reached him.

"I left it here, right next to yours."

'Then you didn't secure it properly."

'Good riddance,' Sakura thought sourly, rubbing her tender ass. It was official. She was _definitely_ not a horse girl. Now she _had_ to walk. She couldn't suppress a smile. "Oops."

"Hn." Sasuke sighed in irritation. "The horse is trained to return to the surface when he loses his rider."

'Oh damn. I lost my blanket. Well, at least the caves aren't too cold,' she thought, rubbing her arms to ward off the slight chill. "Good thing I still have the food and med packs."

"Aa."

They gathered around the fire's embers.

Laying on the opposite side of the campfire Sasuke saw his teammate wrap her arms around legs and lay her head on her knees.

"You can share my blanket." He lifted the fabric up, inviting her in.

"You can share mine too, Sakura-chan," Naruto chimed in.

She looked between the two boys—her old crush and her good friend. A decent night's sleep decided her. "Sorry, Naruto, but you snore too loud." She scooted over and curled up next to Sasuke, who wrapped his blanket around them.

"I'll go set the traps. No messin' around, you guys," the blond joked. "We're on a mission."

"Naruto!"

"Shut up, Dobe."

They heard him laughing down the way.

"Good night, Sasuke-kun. Thank you."

"Aa." Relaxing, he sighed and she felt his hot breath on her neck. She shivered pleasantly at his warmth and her Inner gibbered happily about being near Sasuke while she drifted off to sleep.

The next day found them at odds.

"I can walk," she insisted. "I _want_ to walk, Sasuke-kun." She didn't want to tell him why. Those saddles were hard, and, even though she had plenty of muscle for a woman, there was one or two places where she was soft—one place in particular was soft and _sore_.

"There are poisonous snakes in these tunnels," he argued.

"I'm not afraid of snakes," she scoffed.

"If our medic gets bitten, who will heal you?" he snapped. "What happens then if we get hurt? Can you see in the dark? Last I looked, I was the only one with the Sharingan."

She stood with her mouth hanging open. Sasuke hadn't strung together that many words to her in years.

"Let's go."

She reached for the saddle to climb up behind him and instead Sasuke picked her up under her arms and set her down right on his lap, just behind the saddle horn. She hissed softly when her tender bottom made contact with his thighs.

"Sasuke, I can't ride like this!" She blushed scarlet. With the saddle horn in front of her, she couldn't lean forward at all! She would be sitting on his lap all day and she was already feeling sensitive from the hard ride yesterday.

"Well, I can't sit on you."

"That's not what I—"

Sasuke clucked his tongue and the horse started down the trail. "The sooner we get there, the sooner we get back." Naruto passed them and took the lead.

Sakura spent a torturous fifteen minutes, bouncing up and down against Sasuke's thighs because she was so stiff and tense.

Sasuke spent a torturous fifteen minutes with Sakura bouncing on his lap. The movement of her soft bottom rocking onto him consistently was giving him a _hard_ time, too. Finally, he could take no more.

Sasuke pressed her back firmly into his lap. "Relax, Sakura, roll with the horse and lean against me more."

"S-sorry." She tried to relax and realized he was right. When she rested against him and stopped holding herself taut, the bouncing stopped. Her heart raced a hundred times faster being so close to him, but the ache in her bottom eased to a warm, soothing sensation. Sasuke's lap was definitely easier on her sore backside than that saddle.

Sasuke sighed.

It wasn't that he didn't enjoy the sensations caused by Sakura's ass bouncing on his crotch—he wasn't a damn monk—he just knew he couldn't concentrate on their mission when impure thoughts about Sakura riding him _without_ clothes between them constantly crossed his mind.

Three days later they rode back out into the sunlight—the mission was a bust. They'd found a group of old men who blathered on about world domination one minute and cackled like loons the next. Plus, they were all practically blind from living in caves for so many years. Team Seven left them to their adventurous plans that would never bear fruit, except in their old, demented minds, and went home.

Sakura found herself distracted the whole way home. She didn't realize until they walked through the gates and they said their goodbyes that it was because she had grown so used to being so close to Sasuke in such a short time. They'd been in near-constant contact in their time in the caves.

The first two nights back home, she tossed and turned restlessly in bed.

The third had her knocking hesitantly at Sasuke's door.

'What am I, _crazy_?' she thought, 'What am I going to say? Sasuke, I can't sleep without you near me?' When he opened the door, she was surprised to see dark circles under his eyes.

"Sasuke-kun, I—"

He grabbed her wrist and dragged her into his arms. She began to mount a protest, but when his lips slanted over hers, all rational thought left her brain.

Hours later they lay, curled together in his bed, his thumb slowly massaging a circle on her bare hip as she closed her eyes and snuggled into his chest.

With a contented sigh they drifted off to sleep together.

~The End~


End file.
